How Zappos Decides How Much to Pay Employees Under its New 'Self-Management' System

By Richard Feloni

In 2013, Zappos began transitioning to "Holacracy," an alternative management system that replaces a pyramidal hierarchy with a network of circles dedicated to specific functions like marketing or HR, and ditches traditional management.

Job titles are replaced with "roles" that employees can accumulate.

This past March, CEO Tony Hsieh decided the transition was moving too slowly and offered employees a severance package to leave the company if they didn't agree with its direction.